Lalin's Curse (Felix X Reader)

Chapter 15

~To Help or Hinder?~

Turns out Eric's stunt was just a ploy to sneak him and Maria into my classroom. Both Eric and Cody had squeezed into Felix's empty seat beside me sticking out like a sore thumb. "If anyone asks, we're both Felix." I nodded, agreeing to Eric's dumb plan and held back an exasperated sigh.

"I get why Eric snuck out of class, but you too Cody?" Tobi muttered glancing back at me.

"Eric," Maria whined from the front of the classroom. "Come show us the picture! We wanna see!" Referring to her and Lucia.

"I only snuck out because I wanted to see what Eric has to show," Cody replied to Tobi's question angrily raising a fist at Eric who rushed over to Maria for safety. I slouched in my seat confused as to why all this felt normal. My unoccupied mind drifted to Felix again as I glanced over at his now empty seat. He's not dead...

Eric hopped up on the desk in front of David and Cody pulled up a chair. "Okay, start talking." Despite the noise, David remained face down on his desk.

"Oh yeah!" Tobi exclaimed reaching into his book bag to pull out a ziplock bag with a tiny blue scale in it. "Here's the scale. Live and center!"

Eric leaned closer to the bag. "It looks a lot smaller in person."

"No dip sherlock..." I piped up, happy with my snide remark. Eric stuck his tongue out at me.

"I get why your mom's boss thinks it useless. It looks like the remains of an animal." Cody crossed his arm and kicked his left leg over his right.

Tobi furrowed his brows at Cody. "Even so, you shouldn't just discard things when you're the police."

"That's right!" Maria jumped out of her seat overly ecstatic. "I've seen a bunch of detective shows and I know you have to take the crime scene very seriously."

"Okay...but the scale wasn't even at the crime scene." Cody retorted. Eric elbowed Cody in the head as he shoved himself closer to Tobi.

"My turn!" He pulled out his phone and clicked on the picture of the rotting hand we'd found. I held back a gag as the smell came rushing back to me. "This is the picture of the hand."

"That's what you found?" Lucia murmured.

"Cool, but disgusting." Maria shivered.

"Yep," Tobi confirmed. "It wasn't at the crime scene but it could still be related to the case. The murderer could have tried to hide it."

I peeked over Tobi's shoulder to see the picture again when I noticed something off. "Hey," I zoomed in on the rotting arm. "Don't those look like scales to you?"

"How did I not notice that?!" Tobi held the phone closer to his face and turned back towards me with a smile. "Thanks!"

"How can a hand have scales?"

"Weird..." Eric chuckled, enjoying the mystery shrouding this case.

"Let me see." Cody swiped Eric's phone from Tobi.

"Reptilians," David muttered glancing up from his desk.

"Eric, this clue is important, can you send it to me later so I can show my mom?"

"Yep!"

Again, I remained quiet as everyone discussed the hand. Cody held Eric's phone close to his face, his demeanor changing drastically. Did he look...worried? We all were. Even back in the forest, he was more worried than the rest of us. Maybe he was trying to protect us from something we had no clue existed. "Cody?" He looked up from Eric's phone nervously as if he'd been caught in the act. I held my hand out motioning for him to hand me Eric's phone but he shook his head. "What's up?" I pried.

"I think-I think I accidentally deleted the photo."

"Cody!" Everyone shouted in sync. Everyone but me and Eric. I narrowed my eyes at Cody. He'd done it on purpose, I could tell. I took a deep breath soothing the anger bubbling in my chest. Maybe he had a good reason.

"Calm down." Eric snatched his phone from Cody. "I have a backup on my PC." Sighs of relief circled the table. Cody sighed, his face dropping. His eyes shifted over to me, remembering I was the first to question him. I raised an eyebrow questioningly but he averted his gaze.

"Now that you're more open to the theory. Let me explain!" David hopped over his desk with a burst of energy and approached the chalkboard. Sliding out of my seat I dropped down into the empty seat next to Lucia in the front. After drawing multiple scenarios of a supposed reptilian David began.

"The witness said the victim was killed by someone small, with horns and a tail." David pointed at the demon drawing with his free hand. "She said it was a demon and that it wanted to eat her." Some girls to my left giggled and pointed at David. "But...she couldn't see in the dark. This description fits a reptilian perfectly. So..."

One of the girls from across the row who'd been giggling earlier interrupted him. "Excuse me! Can you lower your voice? We're trying to study but you're distracting us."

"Please be respectful to those of us who don't care about your weird stories." The other girl remarked.

David sighed. "Since when do either of you study." I monotoned. The girls glanced up from their phones, their mouths falling open. If Felix was here he wouldn't let them get away with teasing David. For now, I'd fill his place. "Last time I checked you two have worse grades than me and I don't try." The two girls scoffed their faces going red in embarrassment. "Go on David."

"What's gotten into you today?" Tobi whispered. A smile spread across my face and I shrugged. David turned back from the chalkboard to smile at me in thanks. I gave him a thumbs up.

"Anyway, according to the book I read, reptilians have tails and some have horns. No matter their height they're really strong and could easily kill a human. They love human flesh." David repeatedly circled the replica of the hand we'd found on the chalkboard. "And lastly, If a reptilian loses a limb it grows back!"

"It makes sense!" Tobi clasped his hands together.

"Question! Question!" Lucia raised her hand as if David were the teacher.

"Yes, Miss Lucia."

"So I'm guessing the hand is from the reptilian murderer, right? But why was it so far from the crime scene?"

David hummed and sketched a quick picture. "Maybe the murderer got his hand cut off in the fight and hid it."

Eric slammed his hand on the desk. "But if reptilians have super strength, how did the victim manage to cut off its arm?"

"Wow, that actually makes sense Eric." I nodded reaching over the desk to pat him on the back.

David seemed lost in thought until he lit up with an idea. "What if the victim was a reptilian too?"

"Wow! So they fought in an epic battle like a comic!" Maria seized David's arm.

"So now everyone's a reptilian? Don't you think that sounds stupid?" After remaining silent the entire time David explained his theory. Cody spoke up. His words were sharp as daggers. All of us met each other's eyes in surprise. Not once had I seen Cody worked up about something but this murder had changed him. He knew something we didn't.